The Philadelphia 76ers are likely to enter the 2026-2027 NBA season with an open roster spot. While the Sixers had a blockbuster offseason, they’ll surely look to make some minor changes to round out the roster when the right time comes.
Heading into the new season, we’ll take a look at one realistic trade target from each NBA team, starting with the Chicago Bulls. Since the Sixers already possess three homegrown stars in Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe, and acquired the All-Stars Jaylen Brown and LeBron James, their in-season acquisitions will certainly be bench help.
Who can the Sixers target from the Chicago Bulls?
The Bulls will be sellers throughout the 2026-2027 NBA season. They have some promising young talent that won’t be on the trade block, but any veteran outside of Matas Buzelis is likely on the block.
Currently, the Sixers have plenty of questions at the center position. With Joel Embiid’s availability struggles, along with the question marks surrounding Adem Bona and Ariel Hukporti, the Sixers could be in the market for a center in due time. The Bulls are expected to shop around the veteran Jalen Smith.
The 26-year-old former No. 10 pick out of Maryland has been in the league since 2020. He started his career with the Phoenix Suns before getting traded to the Indiana Pacers in 2021-2022. He spent two full seasons with the Pacers as a reserve before signing a three-year deal with the Bulls in free agency.
During the 2025-2026 NBA season, Smith started just 21 of the 53 games he played. The veteran saw the court for 20.7 minutes per game. During that time, he shot 48.3% from the field and 37.3% from three on 4.2 attempts per game from deep. Smith produced averages of 10.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game.
The path to acquiring Smith
The Sixers are top-heavy and don’t have a ton of tradeable contracts. There is a path to move in on Jalen Smith’s $9.4 million salary, though.
Mike Gansey and the 76ers’ front office could send Dominick Barlow ($3.4 million), Ariel Hukporti ($3.4 million), and Justin Edwards ($2.4 million) to match Smith’s numbers. The trade would have to occur in mid-December at the earliest, when Hukporti is eligible.
In this hypothetical scenario, we’re assuming that Bona continues to show promise—more than the offseason pickup Hukporti—but not enough to run away with the job. Even if Bona does take a big step forward, there could be plenty of minutes to go around during the regular season, as Embiid has struggled to reach 40 games in each of the past three seasons.
Barlow showed some promise through the 2025-2026 season fo the Sixers, but he’s an expiring contract and certainly replaceable. Justin Edwards might be the biggest question mark of all. He has shown plenty of flashes over the past two seasons, but minutes are hard to come by for the Kentucky product. Joining a rebuilding Bulls team could be beneficial.
The 22-year-old Philadelphia native left college after one season in 2024 and went undrafted. Since then, he has appeared in 108 games for the Sixers. Edwards averaged 10.1 points and 3.4 rebounds, while shooting 36.3% from three on a bad Sixers team. He produced 6.0 points per game and 1.5 rebounds per game, knocking down 37.2% of his threes on a better Sixers team.
Jalen Smith might not be a top target for the Sixers, but he’s a name to keep an eye on.
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